New Airline Routes

Air Canada announced that it plans to launch six new routes between the United States and Canada next May.
Among the new flights will be daily service between Toronto and San Antonio, Texas, which is set to begin on May 1, 2017. The carrier will also launch daily Toronto-Memphis, Tennessee, service and increase its seasonal daily Vancouver-Phoenix, Arizona flights to year-round service on that date.
Air Canada will also begin six weekly …

With the approval of its foreign carrier permit in hand, Norwegian Air’s Irish subsidiary said it was planning to offer service from Cork, Shannon, and Dublin to Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, New York as well as to another smaller airport. The candidates include Portsmouth International Airport in New Hampshire or T.F. Green Airport in Warwick, Rhode Island.
Norwegian will operate these flights using their new Boeing 737 Max 8 jets. …

Delta Air Lines began to operate service to Havana, Cuba from three East Coast cities on Thursday.
The carrier will offer daily flights to the capital of the island nation from Miami International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.
The flights mark the first time the airline has flown to Havana in over 55 years.
Delta is one of eight carriers that were granted authority by …

United Airlines announced the launch of daily service to Havana, Cuba from Newark on Tuesday.
The route is the first to the capital of the island nation for the carrier in over 50 years.
Additionally, United plans to launch once weekly flights to Havana from Houston this Saturday.
Scheduled passenger service from the United States to Cuba resumed earlier this year after over 50 years of banned travel to the island nation.
(Photo: Accura …

Hong Kong Airlines announced that it plans to begin daily, non-stop service between Hong Kong and Vancouver, Canada, on June 30, 2017.
The carrier will operate the service using Airbus A330-200 aircraft, configured with 24 seats in business class and 259 seats in economy. The business class-cabin has a 2-2-2 layout, with seats reclining up to 155°.
The route will be the airline’s first service to North America.
Earlier this year, Hong Kong …

Beijing Capital Airlines announced that it plans to launch new flights on December 30 from Vancouver to Qingdao and continuing to Hangzhou. The carrier will operate the service using Airbus A330 aircraft.
Flights will depart Vancouver at 12:10 p.m. and arrive in Qingdao at 3:55 p.m. the next day. From Qingdao, flights will then depart at 5:55 p.m. and arrive in Hangzhou at 7:40 p.m.
Flights from Hangzhou to Qingdao are scheduled …

WestJet announced that it will launch new service to Mesa, Arizona from both Calgary and Edmonton in January 2017.
The carrier will begin Calgary-Mesa flights on January 19. WestJet will offer flights three times a week, on Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays.
This will be followed by Edmonton-Mesa flights starting on January 21. The carrier will operate the service once a week.
Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport is located in Mesa, Arizona, approximately 20 miles (32 …

It was love at first sight and the most unexpected encounter I’ve ever had at a hotel. Sally, a Chihuahua mix, was living large in the reception area of the Westin Mission Hills Golf Resort and Spa, looking for a guest to adopt as part of the hotel’s pet adoption program.
Sally let me take her for a walk around the property’s beautiful grounds and it was clear that we enjoyed …

Pan Am, the nation’s unofficial flag carrier and a cultural icon, ceased operations on Wednesday (December 4) after what could only be described as a tumultuous decade both for both the airline and the airline industry. It is the second major U.S. airline to cease operations this year.
Had Frequent Business Traveler existed in 1991, some 25 years ago, that could have been the lead paragraph of the top news story …